Grant boosts research to help heart patients

Two Kansas University Medical Center professors have received a $3.3 million grant to study preventive measures for patients who have suffered heart failure, KU announced Monday.

The grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute aims to reduce rehospitalization among heart patients and improve their quality of life.

Heart failure patients at KU Hospital in Kansas City, Kan., will undergo a series of group appointments that include discussions of "self-management" techniques with doctors, dietitians and social workers.

The research will then measure patient outcomes.

Carol Smith, professor of nursing, is principal investigator for the grant, and Ed Ellerbeck, professor of preventive medicine, is co-principal investigator.